COUNCILLORS have heard how a serious illness forced Kerrie Gibb of Innerleithen to give up her taxi driver’s licence back in 2009.

Shortly before that permit expired, she had put her car “off the road”, leaving it in the driveway of her brother’s house.

But in July that year, her niece was taken ill and she decided to drive the vehicle without realising that her brother had removed its insurance.

She was stopped by police in Innerleithen High Street and a court later imposed six penalty points on her driving licence when she admitted the offence.

In 2010, Ms Gibb was stopped again by the police, this time driving another vehicle between Innerleithen and Walkerburn where her brother runs a garage.

She told the Civic Government Licensing Committee of Scottish Borders Council that she believed the vehicle was covered by the garage’s fleet insurance and, as a result, she was admonished at Peebles Sheriff Court with no penalty points imposed.

The committee was considering a new application from Ms Gibb to have her taxi driver’s licence restored.

She had been ordered to appear in person because the police had written to say they could not support her bid, citing the insurance incidents along with two historical speeding offences.

Ms Gibb said both insurance offences had taken place when she was “very ill” and she was now fully restored to good health and had a clean driving licence.

She said she had been driving for 21 years and had helped run her family’s taxi’s business for nine years “without blemish” until 2009. The committee unanimously agreed to grant Ms Gibb her taxi driver’s licence for a provisional period of six months.